Entries Tagged 'Pressler' ↓

Pressler jumped right into it. Blaming Republicans and Democrats in Washington for the stalemate. He called the political system ‘poisonous’ several times during the press conference. He concluded the parties are a conduit for money in Washington. Pressler said that is why he will only serve one term so he won’t waste time raising money for next term, but working for citizens.

As for running as an independent, he pointed to Senator Byrd as a successful Indy senator.

Larry says military spending in the mideast wars is ‘outrageous’ and thinks some army bases overseas should close to modernize the military to save money. He added that he hates endless wars because they don’t yield results.

One of his agendas is more international trade with agriculture in SD.

He described himself as a libertarian several times that is opposed to NSA spying on citizens and thinks it violates our rights and freedoms.

He said he initially supported Obama because he thought Obama would fix the patriot act, but was disappointed he has done nothing, also disappointed that Obama hasn’t done much to end our foreign wars. He also criticized Senator McCain several times for wanting to expand our wars into Syria and Africa.

While he thought the ACA was important legislation, he would have voted against it and thinks it needs an overhaul like cost containment and interstate insurance commerce.

He also believes Obama should concentrate on lowering the deficit.

He touched on supporting women’s and minority rights such as equal pay.

He contests that indies are not spoilers and doesn’t want to be treated as such. He thinks the race could easily be won by 35-40% of the vote and that raising money will be difficult. He joked, “It takes a lot of money to tell people you don’t have money.” He confesses that nobody watches debates so you have to compete with marketing your bid.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I think it was the first time I met Pressler in person. Before the press conference, we introduced each other and I was very surprised by two things, how good he looks physically and how approachable he is. His wife is also very approachable. After a friend told Harriet (his wife) about my blog, she had some kurt words to say about another ‘Republican’ blog.

My first impression is that Pressler is serious about this run, and very cool, calm and collected about it. I feel that this can easily be a three man horse race, especially since Rick and him have a lot of ideas in common and can easily gang up on Rounds. He also sets himself away from his opponents because 1) he has served successfully 5 terms in Washington (Rick is a two time loser) and Rounds is an establishment man.

Do I think Larry has a chance? Too early to tell. After the Republican primary we will have a clearer picture of how this will go. The EB-5 investigation could topple Rounds, which would put a very conservative Rhoden or Nelson in the candidacy. I think this will be one of the most exciting and interesting senate races in the history of the state if Pressler stays in the race until the end.

This was a toon I did when Pressler was running against Janklow in the primaries for Congress (inspired by South Park of course). During that campaign you could see Pressler out and about quite a bit. Chuck and I used to frequent Theo’s lounge on Friday nights after work. One night we go in there and the place was packed accept for a 4-top. Well Pressler and his wife come in and two of their friends and they grab the 4-top. But it only had 3 chairs next to it, so Larry stood for awhile, then he decided to walk around and find an extra chair. Right next to Chuck and I was a couple that had a 3-top. They had their coats hanging on the 3rd chair. Larry very nicely goes up to ask if he could use the chair and the guy gives him the meanest look I have ever seen and barks ‘NO!’ Larry just sheepishly walked away. I still remember looking over at Chuck and we burst into laughter at the same time. Politicians, you either love them or you hate ‘em. Or you poop on them, like I do.

Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), who was the first Vietnam veteran to serve in the United States Senate, is the latest Republican to back Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, Politico learned Sunday.

Pressler, who said that in addition to casting an absentee ballot for Obama he’d donated $500 to the Illinois senator’s campaign, cited the Democrat’s response to the financial crisis as the primary reason for his decision.

“I just got the feeling that Obama will be able to handle this financial crisis better, and I like his financial team of [former Treasury Secretary Robert] Rubin and [former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul] Volcker better,” he said. By contrast, John McCain’s “handling of the financial crisis made me feel nervous” [Alexander Burns, “Former GOP Senator, Vet Backs Obama,” Politico.com, 2008.10.26]

On a recent episode of the FACTS(?) on KCPO Kristi said that McCain would win ‘in a walk’. I wonder what she thinks of her former boss’ endorsement?